Anyone can read the news to you; The Daily Show promises to feel the news at you.

I thought Jon Stewart was heroic when he took on Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson on Crossfire, exposing media theater and the uncomfortable truth that news organizations essentially take cues on integrity from Comedy Central. I bought it for a long time that Stewart’s The Daily Show was almost an acceptable substitute for cable news. Well, we all got a cold splash of reality last week, when Jon proved to us that his show is really is only comedy, and properly scheduled after puppets making crank phone calls.

Last week, the producers of The Daily Show defamed one of my intellectual heroes, Peter Schiff. Many libertarians criticized Schiff for walking into an obvious trap, but I can understand why Schiff took the bait. He personally appeared on the show in 2009 to speak with host Jon Stewart after having correctly predicted the 2007 financial meltdown. Stewart treated Schiff respectfully, and Schiff won the audience’s approval:

I imagine Schiff was expecting similar respect and thoughtfulness this time around. What he received instead was the following hatchet job, led by comedian Samantha Bee: